JPMorgan manager sees new record highs for stocks

By Ian Chua

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Investors should remain bullish on stocks even after the recent run to record highs, with the Federal Reserve likely to cut U.S interest rates again, said a fund manager at JPMorgan Asset Management.

The best opportunities lie in Asian stocks, natural resources and technology shares, said London-based Jonathan Lowe, head of a fund of funds team that manages about $8 billion in assets.

Lowe said an aggressive rate cut by the Fed in September had been a very positive signal and was likely to help steer the U.S. economy away from a possible recession.

The U.S. central bank on September 18 slashed both the benchmark fed funds rate and discount rate by 50 basis points to 4.75 percent and 5.25 percent respectively to help cushion the U.S. economy from a housing slump and financial turbulence.

"That aggression they demonstrated in cutting rates suggest to us there is still further upside in equity markets," Lowe told the Reuters Wealth Management Summit on Tuesday in Hong Kong.

Since the rate action, global equity markets have rallied to record highs. The MSCI's All-Country World Index jumped more than 10 percent from the August trough to an all-time peak on Monday.

Lowe, who manages the JPMorgan Evergreen Fund, a vehicle which places bets on other JPMorgan equity, fixed-income and alternative investment funds, increased equity exposure to 55 percent from 40 percent immediately after the Fed move.

The increased equity weighting included a Southeast Asian equity fund, a natural resource fund and a U.S. technology fund.  Continued...